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History · Koyukuk

Koyukuk was first counted by the census in 1880

Most of Koyukuk was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Koyukuk’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Koyukuk began

When was Koyukuk founded?

1880

Koyukuk first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 98146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Koyukuk’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mystery photos16 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 174 in 1890; 98 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Koyukuk’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Koyukuk’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo16 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewA St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Koyukuk, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
A St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska1917A St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown16 to date
Mount McKinley Patrol, Igloo Creek Cabin No. 25, Naer Igloo Creek, mile 34.1, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Patrol, Igloo Creek Cabin No. 25, Naer…Mount McKinley Patrol, Upper East Fork Cabin No.29, East Fork Toklat River, mile 43, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Patrol, Upper East Fork Cabin No.29, E…Mount McKinley Headquarters, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Cantwell, Denali Borough…Amundsen Cabin, A Street, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Amundsen Cabin, A Street, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks …Quigley Cabin, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Quigley Cabin, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKFort Egbert, Granary, Yukon River at Mission Creek, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Fort Egbert, Granary, Yukon River at Mission Creek, E…Fort Egbert, Quartermaster Warehouse, Yukon River at Mission Creek, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Fort Egbert, Quartermaster Warehouse, Yukon River at …Mount McKinley Headquarters, Comfort Station, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Comfort Station, Cantwel…Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cant…Taylor Building, B Street, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Taylor Building, B Street, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks…Church & Parish House, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Church & Parish House, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Cen…Mount McKinley Headquarters, Boiler House, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Boiler House, Cantwell, …Fort Egbert, Waterwagon Shed, Yukon River at Mission Creek, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?Fort Egbert, Waterwagon Shed, Yukon River at Mission …James Taylor Cabins, Yukon River, Opposite 4th of July Creek, Eagle, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AKDate?James Taylor Cabins, Yukon River, Opposite 4th of Jul…Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cant…Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cantwell, Denali Borough, AKDate?Mount McKinley Headquarters, Employee Residence, Cant…
People over time

Koyukuk, census by census

010018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 174

Peaked at 174 in 1890; 98 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Koyukuk’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Koyukuk came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Koyukuk.

Read it all →

The Koyukon Athabascans had seasonal camps and moved when the wild game migrated. There were 12 summer fish camps located on the Yukon River between the Koyukuk River and the Nowitna River. Trading between the Koyukon and Inupiat of the Kobuk River area has occurred before the arrival of Europeans.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Koyukuk, 1890 to 1952

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 174
  3. 1898Post officeThe Koyukuk post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1917In the archiveA St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska
  6. 1933Born hereEmil Notti is born here
  7. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Koyukuk on the map in 1952

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Koyukuk.

Koyukuk on the 1952 USGS map1952Nulato D-4 sheet · 1:63,360

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Koyukuk.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

A St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska
Retake this viewA St. looking north, Nenana, Alaska, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Koyukuk’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Koyukuk’s history

What year was Koyukuk founded?

The Koyukuk post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (17), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.